EasyCruise added a second cruise ship to
its fleet, a 500-passenger vessel to named the EasyCruise Life. The
addition will more than double the line's capacity next year.
The no-frills
cruise line said the ship would join the EasyCruise fleet in April
2008 and offer seven-day cruises in the Greek islands and Turkey.
The line's only other ship is the 232-passenger EasyCruise-One. A
river vessel, the EasyCruiseTwo, had operated as a franchise of
EasyCruise, but EasyCruise said that operations ceased in
August.
A year ago,
EasyCruise said that it would enter into an franchise agreement
with Cyprus-based Louis Cruises that would increase the EasyCruise
fleet to eight vessels by 2011. The deal was part of EasyCruise's
previously announced agreement with Greek shipyard Neorion Holdings
to build two ships, with an option for two more. Louis agreed to
increase the shipyard order by one ship, to three vessels, with an
option for three more.
However, EasyCruise
Chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou said last week that those deals were
off the table.
"The contracts for
the new-builds were never signed, so EasyCruise will grow its fleet
with existing vessels for now," Haji-Ioannou said.
He explained that
EasyCruise could not come to a price agreement with the Greek
shipyard, and that because the Louis franchise was tied in with the
new-builds, that deal was tabled, too.
EasyCruise's latest
purchase is a 12,711-ton ship built in 1981. EasyCruise bought it
from Arab Ship Management, a Jordanian company.
Before Arab Ship
Management owned it, the vessel had sailed as the Jasmine from 2001
to 2006 for Mano Cruises, an Israeli line operating in the
Mediterranean.
The ship currently
operates as a ferry in Egypt, said Paul Ellerby, EasyCruise's
director of sales and marketing. Ellerby would not disclose the
ship's purchase price.
Ellerby said
EasyCruise would take delivery of the ship in October. It will
undergo an extensive refurbishment before joining the EasyCruise
fleet.
The details of the
refurbishment are being finalized, but Ellerby said it would
include turning the casino and much of the dining room into cabins.
Because EasyCruise guests are never all in the dining room at once,
Ellerby said, its ships don't need a large dining area.
The EasyCruise Life
will have 270 cabins: 23 panoramic suites, 14 cabins with a double
bed, 76 standard twin cabins with a window, 45 standard quad cabins
with a window and 112 standard inside twins.
The ship will have
an a la carte bar and restaurant called FusionOn6, similar to the
restaurant on the EasyCruiseOne. The ship will also have a spa and
shopping area.
EasyCruise has
found success sailing in Greece, Haji-Ioannou said in a
statement.
"The popularity of
our 2007 season has proved that people are very keen to visit
Greece ... and EasyCruise Life will certainly cater to this
demand," he said.
In 2008, the
EasyCruise Life will cruise to six Greek islands and offer the
line's first stop in Turkey, a full day and night in
Bodrum.
Customers will be
able to join the cruise in Athens on Saturdays or in Bodrum on
Mondays.
The EasyCruiseOne
also will remain in Greece and offer a new itinerary that will
include another first call for EasyCruise, Agioi Saranta,
Albania.
To
contact reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to [email protected].